The Faithful
Steward, bound from Londonderry, Ireland to Philadelphia
with 249passengers,
ran aground near Indian River Inlet, Delaware on the
night of September 1,1785. When a sounding was taken, it was
found the ship was only in 4 fathoms ofwater, though there was not
the slightest appearance of land. Every exertion was
usedto run the
vessel off shore but all failed.

On the
morning of September 2, the ship was near Indian River,
about four leagues tothe southward of Cape Henlopen. Every
effort was made to save the unhappy sufferers,who had remained on the
deck during the night. The ship was
only 100 yards from the shore. On the evening of Sept. 2,
the ship broketo
pieces. The long boats that had been put into the water
drifted ashore before theycould be manned. All relief was cut
off. The only chance of survival for the
remainder of
the passengers was by swimming ashore, or using pieces of
the wreck as life rafts.By dawnÄôs
light only 68 of the 249 passengers had survived. The
inhabitants fromLewistown (present day Lewes, DE)
came to the beach to plunder the bodies of theirgoods. Of the 100 women and
children aboard, only 7 were saved.Among the
cargo aboard the ship were 400 barrels of half pennies
and gold rose guineas.